News Story

Stick a lid on it

The romance of cycling on a beautiful bike with a basket on the front can’t be denied: it conjures images of lazily touring a quiet European town, bread and cheese stored ready for a picnic, and a shiny silver bell that rings satisfyingly. Often, though, it’s difficult to combine this image with one of road safety: after all, a straw hat would be much more fitting to this summer scene than a big, bulky helmet.

It’s hard to admit, but, sometimes we don’t take our own safety as seriously as we should. Wearing a helmet might prevent the wind from whipping through our hair as we cycle those country lanes, but it does make the activity so much safer. Knowing many people still decide to go out cycling without wearing their helmet, Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin set to designing an alternative — the invisible helmet.

Called the Hövding, the invisible helmet is the result of some seriously nifty engineering. It looks like a scarf and attaches discreetly round the neck, expanding rapidly upon impact like a car airbag. Another positive is that the airbag actually covers and protects a much larger area than the traditional cycle helmet. It could prove to be even safer too as it provides an extremely soft and gentle shock absorption to counteract the force of a collision — plus the pressure remains constant for several seconds, making it able to withstand multiple impacts during the same accident. After this, the airbag slowly deflates, returning the helmet to its ‘invisible’ status.

This means that the Hövding is always there for you, protecting you from accidents in a more discreet fashion than your average helmet and allowing you to go about your daily business without any inconvenience. It offers cyclists all over the world a way to enjoy their ride without compromising their safety.

At Eurest, we don’t compromise on health and safety either. Our fresh, award-winning e-learning programmes in HSE, food safety and environmental management are innovative, forward-thinking, and always have you in mind. So, whatever your needs, we’ll always be there to cushion your fall.